


Co-defiance

by Magnanimator



Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-18 15:54:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4711733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnanimator/pseuds/Magnanimator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Galaxy is an awfully big weight to put on the shoulders of one woman. </p><p>A good thing, then, that there are two of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue I: Battle Meditation

>>

She is Janla Vox and she grips the edge of her console until her knuckles turn white. 

>>

It's nearing midnight and the lights have dimmed in the distant farmhouse. The moon is high and bright, but the harvester-droids take no notice of her as they rest silently in between the hives and hedgerows. She creeps up to one of them and opens a spigot, letting the honey flow from the tank into the chipped cup she stole from an overseer. 

Yulanti honey sells for three thousand credits per bottle in the upper levels of Coruscant, and Janla Vox only wants a taste. 

>>

She is Janla Vox and she is an ensign in the Republic Navy, specializing is electronic warfare and stealth systems. The ships crowd together in every direction and the turbolasers flash over and over without aiming and she is worthless. 

>>

They meet behind the loading bay and she catches his mouth with hers. He pulls away but doesn't let go, his hands drifting across her back. 

One day she will leave. Steal some of the product – one little flask would be enough to buy passage anywhere – and strike out into the galaxy. See the stars, explore the dark places, have copious amounts of sex with exotic men and never hear the bark of an overseer again. But until then Janla Vox will enjoy her circumstances as well as she is able. 

He leans back in, eyes suddenly confident, and they kiss again. Maybe that day will be sooner rather than later.

>>

She is Janla Vox and half of her readouts are blanked and the Captain is dead and everything is too bright and she doesn't know what to do and 

>>

She is Bastila Shan and she is alive. Ensign Janla Vox is dead. The entire crew of the _Prince Castellan_ is dead, and their absence burns hot and white through the delicate web she has woven. Stray impressions brush against distracted parts of her mind. She tastes honey, and she nearly vomits. 

She exhales. 

This is her duty. It is the cost that her nature demands, but it is no sacrifice. Not for her. 

There is no emotion. 

There is only peace. 

She sits with the lights dimmed in her armored sanctum, at the heart of the largest and most heavily-defended ship in the Republic fleet. The guard outside her hatch is a Jedi Guardian unbeaten in a hundred battles, and two platoons of special forces sit fully-armed in the nearest wardroom. 

The lights flicker briefly, an electrical surge as the _Unspoken Word_ channels power to her shields. Bastila deepens her battle-meditation, reaches out for severed filaments, searches for new connections. 

She tastes honey and they would probably envy her if they knew. 

She is the safest woman in the galaxy and she is dying, every second and every hour and every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought much more could have been done with KOTOR/KOTOR 2 milieu.
> 
> Attempting redress.
> 
> Will aim for maximum Space Opera grandiosity.


	2. Prologue II: Front Lines

The Republic frigate _Golden Precedence_ shudders under a salvo of turbolaser bolts. There's a low whining somewhere beneath the shouts and screams, and he knows it's the sound of the shield generators straining under the assault, audible even in the bridge.

Carth Onasi doesn't have long to live. 

There's no time to think about this fact, but he's thought about the same thing before and can't imagine that he'd come to a different conclusion now.

The conclusion is that, hell, he's fine with it. 

The Republic fleet buckles above and below and to either side. A heavy cruiser burns a few kilometers to starboard, the fires bright and silent. The battle is lost, the way they all knew it would be. 

This is a diversionary fight. A sacrifice. Fleet Group Aurek fights here, above Ralltir, and Fleet Group Aurek loses. Meanwhile, Fleet Group Besk strikes a dozen targets across the Hydian Front, and Fleet Group Besk wins. They've got this Jedi girl there with a trick that makes it the next best thing to certain. 

Carth will believe that when he sees it. 

The plan allows for defeat, but not destruction. The Fleet Group is supposed to begin a fighting retreat once the enemy is fully committed to this assault, then withdraw from the system in good order. Saving the ships and crews to fight another day, above another world. 

By Carth's estimation, the enemy has been fully committed for ninety minutes now, and there has been no order. The fleet hangs in space, static and hapless, the Sith scything away with ruthless precision. 

The nearby cruiser breaks apart. Its primary reactor explodes, and the _Precedence's_ viewing ports go dark. So do the screens. So do the indicator lights and the holographic displays. The background humming of the shield generators ends in a final groan, like the choking sob of a gut-shot man. 

“Report!” Carth barks to the assistant helmsman. 

“Shields down! Starboard hangar doors down! Starboard batteries one through four down!”

Some of the viewscreens come back online, and that's when Carth sees it. 

A Sith dreadnought looms in the void. A vast, dark shape, barbed with batteries and faintly aglow with its own laser fire, pushing through the Republic ranks. Predatory, like a shark's shadow in deep water. Volleying torpedoes and launching fighters. Crashing through the debris field left by the fallen cruiser. Leaving a gap in the Sith line of battle. 

An opening. 

An opportunity. 

Carth checks his instruments just to be sure. The back of his throat burns. 

A dreadnought isn't made to fight alone. They're lynchpins and linebreakers, intended to spearhead the advance of entire fleets. Intended to have their flanks covered by squadrons of lesser ships. But in its zeal to punish the Republic, this one has left its escorts behind. 

“Do you see what I see?”

“Yeah,” says the assistant helmsman, dubiously. 

Carth lacks the authority to act. But the captain sits catatonic in his chair and the XO lies on the deck, gutted by shrapnel early in the battle. The chief engineer is busy in the rear compartments, battling engine fires and trying to get the shields back online. 

He redlines the engines and dives in, bringing the _Golden Precedence_ across and behind the enemy dreadnought. She sees the frigate coming. Tasks a couple of secondary batteries to fire on the lesser ship, almost absent-minded. The turbolaser bolts crash through her unshielded starboard plating.

He opens a line to the gunnery officer. “Please tell me the port batteries have torpedoes ready.” 

“Yes, but...” 

“I'm designating a target. Fire when clear.” 

“But...”

Carth maneuvers before he can hear the rest of the apply, rolling the ship hard to port as she flashes across the stern of the dreadnought. 

A Sith dreadnought is a marvel of defensive engineering, a pinnacle example of the shipwright's art. Even from behind, there's no way the _Golden Precedence_ can punch through those shields. Not even to scratch the paint. 

The wreckage of the dead Republic cruiser, though. That's completely unshielded.

The _Golden Precedence's_ port torpedo tubes fire are she bears, sending a half dozen warheads into the largest chunk of wreckage. A chunk of the ship which, Carth recalls, contains the secondary reactor. 

The reactor explodes. 

The Sith dreadnought, nudging confidently through the wreckage, catches the full force of the detonation. She buckles. She heaves. Her shields blow out in a spasm of energy. Shrapnel from Republic cruiser crashes through her with the force of a planetary defense gun. The gunnery officer sends follow-up salvoes straight into her flank. 

Carth opens a line to the nearest Republic command ship. He hears whooping in the background when they answer. 

“This is the _Golden Precedence._ ” he says. “Capital ship kill.” 

Command re-tasks a squadron of cruisers from reserve to press the advantage in this now-vulnerable zone. A few hours later and they've turned an acceptable loss into a surprising and staggering victory. The Sith fleet is rolled up on one flank and goes into full retreat. 

“They're gonna give you a big medal for this, you know.” notes the assistant helmsman. 

“Great.” breathes Carth.


End file.
